System And Method for Providing Information

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods and apparatus for presenting information using an electronic device. In an aspect, when a standby or idle device detects that a user gazes at it, it starts showing content items on a display. In other aspects, when a standby or idle device detects that a user shakes it, taps on it, or speaks to it, plus that the user gazes at it, the device begins to show content items on a display. The content items may include advertisements.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/917,625, filed Mar.10, 2018, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.15/802,427, filed Nov. 2, 2017, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 15/494,464, filed Apr. 22, 2017, which is adivision of U.S. application Ser. No. 14/217,486, filed Mar. 18, 2014,now U.S. Pat. No. 9,671,864, granted Jun. 6, 2017.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not applicable

SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM

Not applicable

BACKGROUND Field of Invention

This invention relates to providing information, more particularly toproviding information using an electronic device and eye-trackingtechnologies.

Description of Prior Art

When a smartphone is standby, its display may turn dark to save energy.Without user intervention, the smartphone would stay that way. In somecases, a user may not want to play with a standby phone, because he orshe may be busy doing other things. In some other cases when a user isnot busy, he or she may still be reluctant to awake a phone from standbystate, if there isn't anything interesting. In the latter scenario, auser may have time to take or view information, while a smartphone mayhave a blank screen ready to display and convey info. However, therelack convenient ways and incentives for a user to start it. As aconsequence, the phone may continue to be idle, while a user may justgaze at a dark empty screen, causing a waste of time for both the userand phone.

Accordingly, there exists a need to utilize idle time of smart phone andother electronic devices to present information to idling users.

Advertisements represent a major revenue source for many internetservice providers and internet companies. When users surf on theInternet or communicate with each other, however, most hold a rathernegative attitude towards advertisements, which often tend to presentcontents in an intrusive, disruptive, obtrusive, or even rude manner.Intrusive ads include unexpected pop-up, unwelcome or oversized banners,or annoying flashing objects or pictures. On the other hand,advertisements made to be less intrusive often end up being ignored orless effective due to a weak or subtle appearance. In both cases, eitherusers are offended, or ad effect is in doubt.

Thus, it is desirable to have a method and system which provideadvertising information in a less-intrusive but effective way. Becausean idle device sometimes means an idling user, it may be less intrusiveand probably more effective to present advertisements utilizing an idledevice in an unused time slot. But so far most internet advertisementsappear at a rather awkward time, competing with programs a user isrunning or annoying a user who is already busy enough.

Therefore once again, there exists a need to utilize idle time ofelectronic devices like smartphones or tablet computers to presentinformation. The idle time may be especially useful for showingadvertising contents to idle users.

Objects and Advantages

Accordingly, several main objects and advantages of the presentinvention are:

-   -   a). to provide an improved method and system for presenting        information;    -   b). to provide such a method and system which target an idle or        standby device;    -   d). to provide such a method and system which monitor the gaze        direction of a user to determine when to present information and        when to stop a presentation; and    -   d). to provide such a method and system which use a user input        such as shaking, tapping, or voice command plus a gazing act to        determine when to present information.

Further objects and advantages will become apparent from a considerationof the drawings and ensuing description.

SUMMARY

In accordance with the present invention, methods and systems areproposed to present information using an electronic device. Morespecifically, methods and systems are proposed to present informationwhen a device is in idle or standby state. In one embodiment, when auser gazes at a blank screen of an idle device, indicating the usermight not be engaged in anything, the device may take the opportunity topresent news, updates, or other information. In another embodiment, whena user shakes, taps, or speaks to a standby or idling device, and thenlooks at it, the device may combine the shaking, tapping, or speakingact with the gazing act and consider the combination as a predeterminedcommand to show scheduled information on a screen. Information presentedmay include advertisements.

DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 is an exemplary block diagram describing one embodiment inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 displays exemplary diagrams showing one embodiment in accordancewith the present invention.

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 are exemplary flow diagrams showing respectiveembodiments in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 6 displays exemplary diagrams showing another embodiment inaccordance with the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary flow diagram showing steps of the embodimentdepicted in FIG. 6 in accordance with the present invention.

REFERENCE NUMERALS IN DRAWINGS

10 Sensor 12 Database 14 Communication Network 16 Processor 18Processing Module 20 Sensor 22 Computer Readable Medium 24 Sensor 30Smartphone 32 Eye 36 Smartphone 38 Eye 80 Client System 82 ServiceFacility 100, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118,120, 122, 124, 126, 128, 130, 132, 133, 134, 136, 138, 140, 144, 146,148, 150, 152 are exemplary steps.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is an exemplary block diagram of one embodiment according to thepresent invention. A client system 80 and service facility 82 areconnected via a communication network 14. Client 80 may represent anelectronic device, including but not limited to a desktop computer, ahandheld computer, a tablet computer, a wireless gadget (such as mobilephone, smart phone, smart watch, and the like), etc. Client 80 mayinclude a processor 16 and computer readable medium 22. Processor 16 maymean one or more processor chips or systems. Medium 22 may include amemory hierarchy built by one or more memory chips or storage moduleslike RAM, ROM, FLASH, magnetic, optical and/or thermal storage devices.Processor 16 may run programs or sets of executable instructions storedin medium 22 for performing various functions and tasks, e.g., playinggames, playing music or video, surfing on the Internet, email receivingand transmitting, displaying advertisements, etc. Client 80 may alsoinclude input, output, and communication components, which may beindividual modules or integrated with processor 16. Usually, client 80may have a display with a graphical user interface (GUI). The displaysurface may also be sensitive to touches, especially in the case oftablet computer or wireless gadget. Client 80 may also have a voicerecognition component to receive audio input from a user.

Service facility 82 may include a processing module 18 and database 12.Module 18 may contain one or more servers and storage devices toreceive, send, store and process related data or information.

The word “server” means a system or systems which may have similarfunctions and capacities as one or more servers. Main components ofserver may include one or more processors, which control and processdata and information by executing software, logic, code, or carrying outany other suitable functions. A server, as a computing device, mayinclude any hardware, firmware, software, or a combination. In the mostcompact form, a server may be built on a single processor chip. In thefigure, module 18 may contain one or more server entities that collect,process, maintain, and/or manage information and documents, performcomputing and communication functions, interact with users, deliverinformation required by users, etc. Database 12 may be used to store themain information and data related to users and the facility. Thedatabase may include aforementioned memory chips and/or storage modules.

A communication network 14 may cover a range of entities such as theInternet or the World Wide Web, a local area network (LAN), a wide areanetwork (WAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a telephone network,an intranet, wireless, and other types of networks. Client 80 andfacility 82 may be connected to network 14 by various wired, wireless,optical, or other connections.

Client 80 may include a sensor 10 which tracks the eye of a user usingmature eye-tracking technologies. The sensor may be arranged very closeto the screen of a display and designed to obtain a picture of thefacial part of a user. The system may recognize whether a user's gaze isin such a direction that the eye sight may fall on the display screen ofclient 80. In other words, sensor 10 may be employed to determinewhether a user is looking at the screen of a device through properalgorithms. Sensor 10 may be built using imaging technologies, and theimage of a user's eye may be analyzed to decide which direction the useris looking at. Both visible and infrared light may be employed foreye-tracking. In the latter case, an infrared light source may bearranged to provide a probing beam.

Client 80 may also include a sensor 20 which functions as a motiondetector, which is well known in the art and employed at some devicesalready. Sensor 20 may be used to detect movement of an object outsidethe device. It may include a camera-like system to obtain images andthen recognize any movement through image analysis over a period oftime. As sensor 10 has imaging taking capabilities, sensor 10 may bearranged to work both as an eye-tracking device and as a motiondetector, which is desirable when small size is required.

Furthermore, client 80 may contain a sensor 24 to detect its ownmovement by sensing acceleration, deceleration, and rotation. Sensor 24may employ one or multiple accelerometers, gyroscopes, and/or pressuresensors for performing various measurement tasks which may includedetecting device shaking, device vibration, user running, user walking,and so on.

FIG. 2 shows exemplarily one embodiment according to the presentinvention. The essence is to utilize sleeping devices to bring info toidle users. In Step 1 of the figure, a smartphone 30 is standby oridling, with a dark screen showing nothing. In Step 2, a user gazes atthe screen, reflected by an eye 32 looking at it. If the gazing timeelapses beyond a certain value, it may be interpreted as the user mighthave spare time and might be willing to view info presented on thescreen. Then in Step 3, the screen lights up and content items arepresented. The user may continue to look at the screen and view thecontent items, or turn his or her sight away from the screen. If theuser redirects gaze direction to elsewhere for a certain period of time,it may be deemed as not wanting to watch the content any more. Then thescreen may turn dark and the smartphone may become idle or standbyagain, as depicted in Step 4.

Content items presented on an idling device may include any category ofinformation such as breaking news, regular news, market updates,newly-arrived shared photos, email alert, text messages, video clips,advertisements, community events, sports, and so on. A user may choosewhat information may be presented. A user may also rely on a programand/or a service provider, which is connected to a device viacommunication networks, to arrange content items to be presented.

FIG. 3 is a schematic flow diagram illustrating one embodiment ofproviding information according to the present invention. The processstarts with Step 100, occurrence of an idle device, meaning no user isactively doing anything with it and the idle mode has been there for awhile. A device being idle or standby may mean the device has been inthat state for some time, beyond a given period. Examples of idlingdevice may include a desktop computer or tablet computer running byitself for a certain period of time without any input from users, acomputer or tablet computer running on screen-saver mode, a cell phoneor smartphone in standby state, i.e., ready to receive incoming callswhile in a lower-power energy-saving state, or in general, a runningelectronic device with a lower or much lower power consumption settingand probably a blank screen if it has one, etc. Next, in Step 102, thedevice detects a user's gaze and analyzes whether the user looks at itsdisplay, by sensor 10 in FIG. 1 for example. In Step 103, if the userdoesn't gaze at the display, the device may enter Step 105, remaining inidle or standby status. If the device detects that the user has beenlooking at the display for a certain period of time and its idle time isbeyond a given value simultaneously, the device may be programmed tograsp the opportunity and present a content window in Step 104. The newwindow may show information which a user may prearrange or show contentitems received over the network or from the Internet, like news update,event update, real-time broadcast, etc. As the user isn't runninganything at the device, it doesn't interfere with the user's activity;and since the user is looking at the screen, content presented may havea good chance to catch his or her attention. Next in Step 106, if theuser moves sight away from the screen, indicating the user may beunwilling to watch it any longer, the content window may close in Step110, and the display may return to the previous blank setting. Then thedevice may go back to idle state in Step 132. If the user keeps watchingcontents or keeps an eye on the screen, the device may stay engaged inStep 108, and the content window may remain on the screen. The contentitems may cover a wide range of subjects and may switch topics accordingto prearranged schedules.

Aside from turning idle time into informative or entertaining sessions,an idle user may also mean an opportunity for presenting certain specialkinds of information. Take advertisements for instance. If anadvertisement is introduced in the middle of a program which a user isrunning, it may offend the user due to the intrusive and disruptivenature. But if an ad is brought in at the end of a program, a user mayprepare to leave or start another task, and thus may not have enoughtime or interest watching the ad, causing ineffectiveness of advertisingeffort. On the other hand, when a user is idle and is gazing at a blankscreen, appearance of ads on the screen may be less intrusive andprobably more acceptable and more effective. After all, the user hasnothing to do and the ads may get enough attention. Moreover, the ad mayhave a chance to take a full screen, particularly valuable for deviceshaving a small screen size such as smartphones. Ads presented onsmartphones always have size issues due to limited screen dimension andlower priority status relative to what a user is doing or watching.

FIG. 4 is a schematic flow diagram illustrating another embodiment ofpresenting content items according to the present invention. In Step112, a content window appears on a display. Occurrence of the window maybe triggered by a user's gaze, like what described in the aboveregarding the process in FIG. 3. Content items may be chosen by serviceproviders or pre-selected by a user, or combination of both. If a userlikes the content and keeps watching it, content window may stay for awhile. But if the content items are not appreciated or a user wants torun another program, he or she may want to close the window right away.Thus in Step 114, the user may take an action like pushing a button,tapping an icon on a touch-sensitive screen, or clicking on an objectusing a mouse. Then in Step 116, the content window shrinks to a muchsmaller size, or becomes an icon on the display. The window is notcompletely gone because a user may want to revisit it at a later time.In Step 118, if a user clicks on the shrunk window or icon, the contentwindow may resume, and the content items may come back in Step 120. Theuser may start watching the previous content items, or play with thewindow to find more things of interest. If a user ignores the shrunkwindow in Step 118, the window may remain there for a given period oftime and then go away, causing no nuisance to a user. In the meantime,the screen may return to the previous setting in Step 122. In the formercase, after a user goes back to the content items in Step 120 and spendsenough time, the user may close the window and reaches Step 122,resuming a previously paused session.

Returning to Step 104 of FIG. 3. When a user opens up a content windowby gaze, he or she may watch it continuously, or close it with ease.FIG. 5 shows a schematic flow diagram to illustrate the situation indetail. In Step 124, a window is created on a display and content itemsare shown to a user. Meanwhile, the gaze direction of the user ismonitored continuously. In Step 126, if it is detected that the userlooks away from the display for a given period of time, Step 130 isimplemented. The content window closes and the device may return to itsidle or standby state. If the user keeps watching the display, it goesfrom Step 126 to Step 128, and the window remains open and content itemsare presented and refreshed per schedule in place. To provideconvenience for a user, a cycle is designed, which consists of Step 126to 128, then back to Step 126, and then to Step 128 or 130. As a result,a user may watch content items presented by the display on and on, andmeanwhile the user may close the content window at any time by lookingaway from the display. And of course, a user may reopen the window anytime by looking at the display or reopen the window by running certainapplication designed for such a purpose. Therefore, a user may choose towatch scheduled contents or walk away from it easily and conveniently.

Referring back to FIG. 1, sensor 20 may be employed to work togetherwith sensor 10. For instance, sensor 20 may detect movement of a user.When a user approaches a device, sensor 20 may detect it and then thesystem may activate sensor 10 to detect the user's gaze direction. Inother words, physical movement of a user may be considered as a userinput to control the device. In the meantime, the device may be designedto wake up from sleep state and return to standby state after sensor 20detects a given signal. Since a motion detector may consume less powerthan an eye-tracking sensor, it saves energy and extends the batterylife of a device.

Senor 24 may be used to save energy of a device too. For example, whensensor 24 detects that a device's position is unstable or changes in anunusual way, the device may be configured to turn off sensor 10. Thusunder such a circumstance, its display may remain blank or inscreen-saver mode even when it is gazed by a user.

In addition, sensor 24 may be used to design another embodiment. Forinstance, a user may want to take initiative to lighten up a darkdisplay and make use of standby or idle device in a simple andconvenient manner. Suppose a user is looking at a blank screen of astandby smartphone 36, maybe at a subway station. The user may want towatch something to kill time, but doesn't have any idea about what towatch. So the user may follow the exemplary steps illustrated in FIG. 6to start a content show which would be presented on the idling device.Let us assume shaking is selected as an input signal and a detector likesensor 24 is arranged to detect whether a device is shaken by a user ornot. In Step 1, the user may shake smartphone 36 a bit. The shaking actis caught by the detector, which may send a signal to trigger a sensingprocess to ascertain whether the user gazes at the phone. For instance,a circuitry may be configured such that shaking may activate a gazesensing system. Then in Step 2, the user may look at the phone screen oran eye 38 may gaze at it as shown in the figure, which is detected andnext in Step 3, content items may show up on the screen. The contentitems may be selected by a service provider, including topics likeinstant news, weather forecast, promotions nearby, ads, and so on. Thuswith a little shaking and some gazing, a user may get content itemspresented to him or her on an idle device instantly. Compared to thegaze-only scenario as described in FIGS. 2 and 3, the embodiment in FIG.6 gives another option to a user. It also avoids content shows caused byunintended gaze. Probably more important, the scheme saves energy as agaze sensing system may be off most of the time unless getting activatedupon receiving shaking signals.

Besides shaking, there are many other acts or other physical movementswhich may be employed as the first step to work with a dark screen andto view content items on it. For instance, tapping, scribbling orsliding on a touch-sensitive screen, or tapping on certain area of adevice where sensitive sensors may be placed, may also be incorporatedas the first indicator that a user may want to watch something on anidle device. It may depend on a specific app or program to specify whatkind of physical move may be taken as an input for a device. If there ismore than one option, a user may select a method which may seem moreconvenient and effective.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary flow diagram to illustrate the embodimentdepicted in FIG. 6 with more details. Assume that tapping is designatedas the first signal needed. In Step 133, a device is in idle or standbymode except a tap sensor. The tap sensor, e.g., sensor 24 in FIG. 1, ispowered on to detect tapping act performed by a user. A qualifiedtapping may be one tap or two consecutive taps with finger or hand. InStep 134, if no tapping is received, the device may stay in the originalstate, being idle or standby as in Step 140. If tapping is sensed, agaze sensor may start working to detect whether a user gazes at thedisplay in Step 136. Next in Step 138, if the user's sight is not on thedisplay within a given period of time, the device may go to Step 140,returning to idle or standby state. If the user's sight or gaze turns tothe display within a given period of time and the act lasts long enough,a content window may show up in Step 144. Then in Step 146, the gazesensor may continue to monitor the user's gaze direction. If a userdoesn't want to watch the contents, his or her gaze may be directed toelsewhere away from the device. Then the content window may close inStep 150 and the device may go back to an idle or standby mode in Step152. If the user keeps watching the content, his or her gaze stays withthe device, and the content show may continue in Step 148.

Speech recognition and voice generation functions may be incorporated tomake a process easy and smooth. For example, after a content window isstaged by a user's gazing act, the window may be closed when a usersimply says “No”, if speech recognition technology is employed.Additionally, a content window may be arranged to show up quickly aftera user says a predetermined word like “info” or “content” and thenstarts looking at the screen. A device may also generate a short speechto describe an info session after a content window is presented.

When voice recognition and gaze detection are used together, only onedevice, which is gazed at, may respond to a user's voice instructions.Thus a user may give a voice command to a device exclusively andconveniently by speaking to and looking at it. Without gaze detection,multiple devices may react to a voice command and it may cause a chaoticscene. Without voice recognition, a gazing act may invoke a single andoften simple task only, which limits applications.

Two scenarios may exist, when voice recognition and gaze detection areused to enable interaction between a user and a device: A user may saycertain word or words and then look at a device or say certain word orwords and look at a device at the same time. The two actions, i.e.,speaking and gazing, in both scenarios may be arranged to cause a deviceto carry out one or more tasks. As aforementioned, a gazing act means auser gazes at a device for at least a certain time period. The one ormore tasks may be predetermined. For instance, it may be arranged that auser may say a given word or short sentence. The given word or sentencemay mean a request for one or more tasks. Then, a device may carry outthe one or more tasks. A user may also say one or more sentences todescribe a task and ask a device to do it. A device may use voicerecognition techniques to analyze and interpret a user's voice input andobtain one or more tasks from the input.

The one or more tasks include presenting certain content items on ascreen or via a speaker, turning on a device from standby or power-offstate, switching from one to another working mode, implementing one ormore actions specified in a voice input, and performing other giventasks. For brevity purpose, only one or two tasks are cited whendiscussing voice-related examples below, where other tasks may beapplied without mentioning. Content items presented using or at a devicemay be related to a location, scheduled by a user, arranged by a remotefacility or service center, or specified in a voice input. The contentitems may have video, audio, or another format and may be subscribedwith fees or sponsored by an entity. A device may present content itemsusing a display, a speaker, or other output components. Initially, thedevice may be at a standby, sleeping, power-off, or power-on state. Insome applications, whether or not a user gazes at a device may bedetected. In other applications, whether or not a user gazes at adevice's display, speaker, or another output component may be detected.For brevity reasons, only the former case, i.e., gazing at a device, ismentioned in discussions below.

When a device is ready, a voice recognition system may be powered on andmonitor a user's voice input from the beginning. A gaze detection systemmay be turned on in response to receiving a user's voice input. A gazedetection system may also be powered on all the time.

In both scenarios, a user's verbal instructions are carried out when adevice detects that the user gazes at it. Hence a user's command may notbe carried out, if the user is out of sight, i.e., the user's gazingdirection can't be ascertained. For instance, when a user shouts a fewwords as a command from another room and a device can't find the user insight, the device may not follow the command to do a task even thoughthe device may get the command from a voice recognition system.Similarly, a device may not implement a task if the task is obtainedfrom a voice output generated by another device, such as a television, aspeaker, or a smartphone, since a corresponding gaze doesn't exist andthus can't be detected.

When a name is assigned to a device by default or a user, such as “DJ”,the device may be arranged to perform a task after it receives a voicecommand which contains the name and the task. Examples of correspondingvoice commands include “DJ, turn on the lights”. The exemplary commandcomprises a predetermined name and a task and a device may do the taskafter receiving the command. Mature voice recognition techniques may beused to interpret a voice command. Sometimes, one or two sentencescontaining a name and a task may come from a television, when itpresents a movie or advertisements. Such a case may be rare, but it doeshave a chance to happen and may become an issue. Thus, there exists aneed to avoid taking a voice command from a machine. It may be arrangedthat a device ascertains whether a voice input comes from a user, afterit gets the input which contains a predetermined name and a task. If thedevice detects that the input is from a user, it performs the task;otherwise, the device declines to do the task and the input may bediscarded.

Locating techniques are needed to detect whether a voice comes from auser. For instance, a device may have a locating detector to measure thesource of a voice and then ascertain whether a target at the source is auser or a machine. The ascertaining step, or identifying step, may beperformed using mature identity recognition technologies. A locatingdetector may measure and analyze sound waves and then calculate a sourceposition via algorithms using mature methods. An identity recognitionsystem may use a camera to take pictures of a target at the sourceposition. Whether the target is a user or not may be determined byanalyzing the pictures via algorithms and mature techniques. A devicemay be arranged to follow instructions only after it is detected thatthe instructions are from a user. When a device receives a voice commandfrom a user who is out of sight, like in another room, the device may beconfigured to ignore or discard the command as it can't determine thecommand is from a user, even though the command contains a name of thedevice and does come from a user.

In some cases, however, we may want a device to control another devicevia a voice command. In some other cases, we may want to tell a deviceto do a task when we are not in sight. For instance, a user may set up awake-up alarm at a smartphone. When the alarm sounds in the morning, italso produces a voice output, like “DJ, turn on the lights”, where DJ isthe name of a device. Then the device may switch on light bulbs in aroom. Sometimes, we may want to shout to issue a command without seeinga device, which means the device can't see us either. In such cases, wewant a device to follow a voice command without ascertaining whether thecommand comes from a user. Thus, there exists a need for a device tofollow a voice command unconditionally, or a need of a specific type ofcommand which a device follows without checking any factors related to auser.

A specific type of command may contain three items: A name, a code, anda task. The name is an assigned name as aforementioned. The codefunctions as a label. When a device receives a voice command containinga predetermined name, it may ascertain whether the voice is from a uservia locating and identification means. When the device detects that thevoice comes from another device, somewhere out of sight, or multiplesources (such as multiple speakers), it may be arranged to decline tofollow the command. In other words, the device may be arranged toimplement the command only when it is detected that the voice comes froma user.

When the device receives a voice command which contains a predeterminedname, a code, and a task, it may follow the command without ascertaininganything related to a user, like whether the command is from a user ornot. A code may be selected and decided by a user. It may be a simpleone which is easy to use and remember. A code may include a numericalnumber, a word, a phrase, a short sentence, or a mixture of numbers andletters. Examples of codes include 123, 225, bingo, listen, “it's me”,and so on. Assume that an assigned name is “DJ” and a code is “it's me”.Examples of voice commands include “DJ, it's me, turn on airconditioning.” When a device receives the command, it gets the name,code and task via a voice recognition system. Since the command has thename and code, there is no need to detect where it comes from or verifyany things. The device may turn on an air conditioning system promptly.

To accommodate various cases and different needs of users, the followingmethod may be arranged. Assume that a device has a voice recognitionsystem for sensing, receiving, and interpreting a voice input. Thesystem is powered on at the beginning. The device also has a gazedetection mechanism or sensor for detecting a user's gaze direction, alocating mechanism or sensor for detecting a source position of a voiceinput, and an identification mechanism or system to detect whether atarget is a user or a machine. The above mechanisms may be inoperational mode from the beginning or triggered individually by asignal after a voice input is received.

Assume a name and a code are assigned to the device. The device receivesa voice input at the beginning. Content of the input may be obtainedthrough the voice recognition system. There are three situations andfive options. In situation 1, it is detected that the voice inputcontains the name, the code, and a task. There is one option, option 1,provided for a user. If option 1 is selected or enabled, the deviceperforms the task right away after receiving the input, since itcontains the name and the code. For instance, a user may say a namefirst, followed by a code, and one or more sentences to describe a taskat last. Aforementioned example “DJ, it's me, turn on the lights” hassuch a sequence along a timeline. Once a device receives the input, thetask is performed without the needs of checking anything else.Alternatively, a user may say the name first, then a task, and finallythe code. For instance, a user may also say “DJ, turn on the lights,it's me”. The code “it's me” is placed behind the task in the sequence.In yet another configuration, a code may come first, like “It's me, DJ,turn on the lights.” When a device receives a voice input, it may searchand recognize three items: a predetermined name, a code, and a task,regardless of a sequence of the items in the input. As long as a devicegets the three items, it is configured to carry out the task when thename and code match a given profile respectively.

In situation 2, the voice input contains the name and a task. There arethree options provided for a user. In option 2.1, the device isconfigured to do the task when the input contains the predetermined nameand the task. In option 2.2, the device is configured to do the taskwhen the input contains the predetermined name and the task and theinput comes from a user. When the device receives the voice input, itmeasures where the voice comes from and then ascertains whether a targetat a source of the voice is a user. If the target is not a user, thetask is not performed. In option 2.3, the device is configured to do thetask when the input contains the predetermined name and the task and itis detected that a user gazes at or looks at the device. When the devicereceives the voice input, it detects the gaze direction of a user. Ifthe user doesn't gaze or look at the device, the task is not carriedout. In addition, the sequence of a name and a task along a timelinedoesn't matter, as long as the name is correct. For instance, a user maysay “DJ, turn off lights” or “Turnoff lights, DJ”. A device may followboth orders and turn off lights.

In situation 3, the voice input contains a task only and doesn't includethe name and the code. There is one option, option 3, arranged for auser. When option 3 is chosen, the device performs the task afterreceiving the input, sensing a user, and determining that the user gazesor looks at the device. The device declines to do the task if it isdetected that the user doesn't gaze or look at the device. In situations2 and 3, when it is detected that a user “gazes or looks at the device”,it means the user gazes or looks at the device when the user issubmitting the voice input or within a given time period after the usersubmits the voice input.

A user may select one, two, or three options each time. For instance, a“Setup” button may be configured on a touch screen of a device. A usermay tap the button to open a setup window, where the user may tap checkboxes to make selections. A user may choose a single one among the fiveoptions to cover one situation only. If a user selects option 1, thedevice performs a task only after it obtains the name, the code, and thetask from an input. If a user selects option 3, the device executes atask only when the user says the task and gazes or looks at the device.

A user may also select two options to cover two situations. Sinceoptions 1 and 2.1, 2.1 and 2.2, 2.1 and 2.3, 2.2 and 2.3, 2.3 and 3overlap each other respectively, there are five possible cases. The fivecases include options 1 and 2.2, 2.3, or 3, options 3 and 2.1 or 2.2. Ifoptions 1 and 3 are selected, for instance, a task is performed when avoice input contains the name, the code, and the task or a voice inputcontains the task and it is detected that a user gazes or looks at thedevice.

In addition, a user may select three options to cover all threesituations. The three selections contain options 1, 2.2, and 3. A taskis performed when a voice input contains the name, the code, and thetask, a voice input contains the name and the task and it is detectedthat the input comes from a user, or a voice input contains the task andit is detected that a user gazes or looks at the device.

CONCLUSION, RAMIFICATIONS, AND SCOPE

Thus it can be seen that systems and methods are introduced forpresenting information or performing a task using an electronic device.

The improved methods and systems have the following features andadvantages:

-   -   (1). An idle or standby device is used to present content items        to a user;    -   (2). Gazing direction is used to determine when to present        content items and when to stop it; and    -   (3). User input such as shaking, tapping or speaking to a device        is combined with gaze detection to determine when to present        content items or perform a task.

Although the description above contains many specificities, these shouldnot be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but as merelyproviding illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments.Numerous modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

Ramifications:

A presentation method based on eye-tracking or gaze-sensing technologiesmay be applied to cell phone, smart phone, smart watch, tablet computer,laptop computer, desktop computer, television, game player, digitalbillboard, or any other electronic devices or systems having a displayand certain computing power.

Ambient light sensor may be added to a device to sense ambient lightintensity, which may be used to determine whether the device is in apocket or bag. If a device is not pulled out, measurement results of amotion sensor may be ignored in applications discussed.

A content window may be configured to close by itself when certainmotion is detected by accelerometer or gyroscope sensors, even though auser is still watching the screen, as it is uncomfortable to view anycontent, or inappropriate to show any content in such conditions.

Moreover, a device may be equipped with a facial recognition system tocreate an extra layer of protection. The system may at least recognize adevice owner, which may protect a user's privacy by not following otherpeople's instructions, or may be used to present different informationto different users according to prescheduled plans. For instance, thesystem may be used to identify a user against given facial criteria. Ifan identification process fails to provide a positive result, any inputreceived from the user may be discarded. No matter what the user does,an operational state or inactive state of a device is not affected bythe user's action. It also means that a user has to be in sight so thata device may ascertain the user and perform an identity verificationprocess. The system may make use of a camera which is employed by gazedetection to get dada and employ facial recognition algorithms toidentify a user.

To trigger a content window by a gazing act, a user may also look atthings located outside a display but close to its edge, instead oflooking at the display directly. The reason is that, when a user looksat objects close to a display, content shown on the display may alsoreach the eye, thus providing a viewing opportunity anyway. Andhopefully, the user may turn his or her sight a bit to get a betterreception of the content. Moreover in many cases, instead of display, itmay be enough to trigger a content show if a user just looks at anidling device for a given period of time, because it may mean bothparties are available and the user may have a good chance to noticecontent items displayed on the device. In cases of smartphone and tabletcomputer, gazing at a device is almost equivalent to gazing at adisplay, because for these devices, a display may covers the whole areaof one side.

Lastly, a method may be configured which ascertains whether a user facesa device, instead of gazing at a device. In some applications, it may bedifficult to sense a user's eye movement, due to technical issues orambient lighting conditions. Thus it may be arranged to detect whether auser faces a device. For instance, a device may use an imaging sensorlike camera to take pictures or videos of a user. Certain algorithms maybe used to identify facial features of the user, determine positions ofthe user's eyes, and then calculate a distance between a spot of thedevice and one eye and another distance between the spot and the othereye. The spot may be a point at the center of the device or the centerof an output component. If difference of the two distances is smallerthan a given value, it may be considered that the device is right infront of the user or the user faces the device. Consequently, it may beconfigured that in all of above discussions, a gazing requirement may bereplaced by a facing requirement when a user or entity decides to do so.For instance, a requirement of gazing at a device may become arequirement of facing a device.

Therefore the scope of the invention should be determined by theappended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examplesgiven.

1. A method for presenting a plurality of content items at an electronicdevice, comprising: 1) detecting an act made by a user involvingphysical contact with the electronic device or physical movement of theelectronic device when a display of the electronic device has an idlescreen or a screen in inactive mode or screen-saver mode; 2) performinggaze detection only after detecting the act; 3) ascertaining whether theuser looks at a direction toward the electronic device; 4) determiningwhether the user is recognized via a recognition mechanism; and 5)presenting the plurality of content items when the user is recognizedvia the recognition mechanism and it is ascertained that the user looksat a direction toward the electronic device.
 2. The method according toclaim 1 wherein the plurality of content items is unrelated toinformation presented before a state of the idle-screen, the inactivemode, or the screen-saver mode.
 3. The method according to claim 1,further including stopping presenting the plurality of content itemswhen it is detected that the user looks at a direction other than theone toward the electronic device.
 4. The method according to claim 1wherein the recognition mechanism includes a facial recognition method.5. The method according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of contentitems includes at least one of the following items: news, alert, update,email, text message, sponsored content, and other information.
 6. Themethod according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of content items isarranged by a service.
 7. The method according to claim 1, furtherincluding presenting different information when a different user isrecognized.
 8. A method for presenting a plurality of content items atan electronic device, comprising: 1) monitoring the electronic device orphysical movement of the electronic device to sense an act made by auser when a display of the electronic device has an idle screen or ascreen in inactive mode or screen-saver mode; 2) performing gazedetection only after sensing the act; 3) determining whether the user isrecognized via a recognition mechanism; 4) detecting whether the userlooks at a direction toward the electronic device; and 5) presenting theplurality of content items when the user is recognized via therecognition mechanism and it is detected that the user looks at adirection toward the electronic device.
 9. The method according to claim8 wherein the plurality of content items is unrelated to informationpresented before a state of the idle screen, the inactive mode, or thescreen-saver mode.
 10. The method according to claim 8 wherein theplurality of content items is arranged by a service.
 11. The methodaccording to claim 8 wherein the plurality of content items includes atleast one of the following items: news, alert, update, email, textmessage, sponsored content, and other information.
 12. The methodaccording to claim 8 wherein the recognition mechanism includes a facialrecognition method.
 13. The method according to claim 8, furtherincluding presenting different information when a different user isrecognized.
 14. An electronic device comprising: a processor, arecognition mechanism, and a memory or memory unit coupled to theprocessor, the processor operable when executing certain instructionsto: 1) detect an act made by a user involving physical contact with theelectronic device or physical movement of the electronic device when adisplay of the electronic device has an idle screen or a screen ininactive mode or screen-saver mode; 2) perform gaze detection only afterdetecting the act; 3) determine whether the user looks at a directiontoward the electronic device; 4) determine whether the user isrecognized via a recognition mechanism; and 5) present a plurality ofcontent items when it is determined that the user looks at a directiontoward the electronic device and the user is recognized via therecognition mechanism.
 15. The electronic device according to claim 14wherein the plurality of content items is unrelated to informationpresented before a state of the idle screen, the inactive mode, or thescreen-saver mode.
 16. The electronic device according to claim 14wherein presentation of the plurality of content items is stopped whenit is detected that the user looks at a direction other than the onetoward the electronic device.
 17. The electronic device according toclaim 14 wherein different content is presented when a different user isrecognized.
 18. The electronic device according to claim 14 wherein theplurality of content items includes at least one of the following items:news, alert, update, email, text message, sponsored content, and otherinformation.
 19. The electronic device according to claim 14 wherein theuser relies on a service to arrange the plurality of content items. 20.The electronic device according to claim 14 wherein the recognitionmechanism includes a facial recognition method.